Palmer in for Torino Olympic Games

Snowboarding and mountain-bike legend Shaun Palmer is headed for the
Olympic Games in Italy this February. Palmer qualified in a
Boardercross event in Austria yesterday, even after a crash during the
race. His second-place finish in the event should be good enough to
qualify the Lake Tahoe native into the Olympics.

Palmer, a passionate fan of motocross, had a tumultuous year in 2005,
and his focus on the Olympics has helped him get back on track.

"Man, I wanted to race the motocross nationals so bad last year, but
one thing kept going wrong after another," Palmer said. "I finally had
enough, and I just snapped."

Shaun was speaking of a near-fatal overdose of drugs and alcohol that left him unconscious in his home last June.

Since then, Palmer has re-focused on getting back to the sport he
helped create: snowboarding. Palm will compete in the Winter X Games in
Colorado in January and then the Olympics in Torino, Italy. He will be
a favorite to win the gold in the Boardercross events at both.

What are his plans after the Olympics?

"I'm going racing, man," he said, talking of another run at the
National motocross series. "Only this time, I'm doing it my way and I'm
going to go out and just have fun and not get all stressed out about
it."